Generation Z, those born after 1995, delve deep into scientific research during their school holiday break.

December 2015 and January 2016 saw six Indigenous and 30 non-Indigenous students from across Australia join experienced environmental scientists to help them gather field data as part of Earthwatch Australia’s ‘Student Challenge Program’.

The finale of our 3-part series, “The Jungle of Mirrors,” is the story of a delicate forest ecosystem and its heroic guardians—the scientists, policy makers, communities, and Earthwatch volunteers who have fought to protect it. But the fight is far from over.

When a group of journalists misreported that a community-based strategy to protect a nature reserve in the Amazon had failed, Dr. Richard Bodmer used scientific data to challenge their every point: the strategy had not only eliminated conflict in the region, it had helped to increase biodiversity, wildlife populations were flourishing, and the forest was thriving once again.

Deep in the heart of Western Amazonia, in Peru's Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, a flooded forest teems with wildlife. Alligator-like caimans hide in long grasses surrounding lagoons; wading birds hunt for fish in shallow waters; howler monkeys shriek and swing from tree branches; and river dolphins leap from the Samiria River, their reflections rippling in the water alongside them.

From studying and understanding the important role pollinators play in the orchards of the India Himalayas and the farms of Costa Rica, to monitoring the effects of climate change at the Arctic’s Edge in Churchill, Manitoba, to safeguarding the rainforests of Puerto Rico – teens are stepping up to protect the planet and the many species that call it home.